Psychometric Properties of Two Brief Versions of the Hopkins Symptom Checklist: HSCL-5 and HSCL-10
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The Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25) is a widely applied measure of depression and anxiety. The present study examines two of its short forms-the HSCL-5 and HSCL-10, which have been proposed by previous research-in a representative sample of the German general population. To this end, we conducted exploratory and confirmatory analysis on two subsamples ( n = 1,246 and n = 1,216). Our results suggest that, compared with the HSCL-25, both short forms represent economical ways of assessing depression and anxiety. Model fit was good and correlations with established measures demonstrate convergent validity. Both HSCL short forms are strongly invariant across sex, and we found evidence for partial strong invariance across age groups. Further analyses showed that differences in HSCL can be partially explained by sociodemographic variables. Finally, we report normative values for usage by researchers and clinicians. We recommend the HSCL-5 and HSCL-10 for clinical and research-oriented application.
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The short-form 5-item HSCL has acceptable validity compared with the HSCL-25.
“Compared with the HSCL-25, the short-form 5-item HSCL has acceptable validity [58].”
From The prospective association of adolescent loneliness and low resilience with anxiety and depression in young adulthood: The HUNT study (2025) · cites this paper as [58]
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References 39 · Cited by 107
- Authors
- Schmalbach, B., Zenger, M., Tibubos, A. N., Kliem, S., Petrowski, K., & Brähler, E.
- Affiliations
- University of Münster (DE)
- IFB Adiposity Diseases (DE)
- University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (DE)
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Schmalbach, Bjarne
- Venue
- Assessment
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2019-07-04
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 617-631
- ISSN
- 1073-1911 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-3489
- OpenAlex
- W2955472037
- Cited by
- 107
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 10 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 18 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 3
- FWCI
- 9.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- ul.qucosa.de
- Locations
- Assessment (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Qucosa (Saxon State and University Library Dresden) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Psychometric Methodologies and Testing
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Keywords
- Hopkins Symptom Checklist, depression, anxiety, psychometric properties, short-form questionnaire, convergent validity, measurement invariance, sex differences, age differences, reference values, German general population
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Humans, Psychometrics, Reproducibility of Results, Checklist
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